Mike and Carol

Will be anxious to see pictures! Sounds like another unique Oliver. Mike

I think an Oliver being pulled by a Raptor will be a sight to see. It's a nice truck! Mike

Another good looking Oliver in progress. You are getting close! Mike

Glad to hear about start dates! Custom graphics are fun, but there is also a certain elegance to an all white Oliver with no graphics. Mike

"Speed The maximum speed for a towing vehicle in Texas is 70 mph -- on the interstate -- unless posted otherwise. Under code 545.352, that's only in the daytime; it applies to passenger vehicles and light trucks pulling small trailers less than 26 feet long, carrying a boat, motorcycle or animals. For such small trailers, the nighttime maximum is 65 mph. For other kinds of trailers, such as fifth wheels, the maximum daytime speed is 60 mph, and that maximum drops by 5 mph at night. Common sense trumps the posted speed limit: If it's foggy, and you're still traveling at 55, the police can cite you for dangerous driving." I've seen lots of big 5th wheels on the interstates doing 70mph. I keep my speed at 65 or less, even in west Texas where the speed on the interstate is 85. Traffic lights are normal, red=stop, green=go. ?

Buzzy, sorry to hear about Little Buzzy. Losing a companion is hard, keeping the memories is good! Mike

Older might be better than bigger (coming from a recently retired "older" guy).?

? I need to hijack this thread for just a minute for a quick discussion about Texas mountains....? Head over here: http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/big-bend-national-park-texas/ for my post about our visit to Big Bend National Park, Texas. Here's a view from near the top of Lost Mine Trail at about 7,000 feet: On the way up: Big Bend would be a great place for a future Oliver Rally. We'll be at Guadalupe Mountains National Park, TX next week. We've been through North Carolina and the mountains are beautiful. We haven't camped there, but it is high on our list. Now, back to welcoming Marshall and Jeanette!! Mike

Marshall and Jeanette, welcome! We're just north of San Antonio near Boerne. If you get up this way and want to see an Oliver just let me know. Mike

The trailer looks nice from the outside. The inside is very "70's", a little over the top.

This sounds like fun. Will be interested to hear how it goes. We stayed at Hillman Ferry Park at Land Between the Lakes. Great place. A fall meet somewhere?

Nice work there, Steve. Can't wait to see it in person. Mike

We've been thinking about and planning trips for 2017. It might be interesting to see where fellow Oliver owners are thinking about going in the months ahead. Might be some chances to cross paths. Here's what we're thinking... Jan - weather permitting we're going to Carlsbad NP and Guadalupe Mountains NP. Then, we'll head to southern AZ. Feb - will try to make it to the Quartzsite Gathering in AZ then on to Joshua Tree NP. Mar - not sure Apr - The Bluebonnet rally in Bandera TX is the end of the month and is less than an hour away. Then on to.... May - Oliver Rally. Then, we're looking at heading to Asheville, NC and then back to TX via state parks in north GA, AL, MS and AR. Summer - local trips. Fall - we'd like to do all the great sites in Utah. We'd also like to do the Oregon and Washington coasts. Where's everyone going in 2017?

The Jensen speakers that came with our Oliver are average. For watching TV or background music they are fine as long as the volume isn't too high. For watching a DVD movie, they are adequate if you're not needing a lot of volume or bass. If I had no need for a TV/radio/DVD I would eliminate the entire system and go with a portable. I bought a portable unit (can't recall the brand, it's in the trailer) at COSTCO that has good sound, is waterproof, charges via USB or 12V, is rugged and has a handle on the end. When I'm outside grilling, my iphone is my music server and it connects to the portable speaker via Bluetooth. I often use it inside as well. I've found that the Furion unit in the trailer is a bit finicky when it comes to connecting with Bluetooth. At first I thought it might be a good idea to have speakers on the outside of the Oliver but now I'm convinced a portable unit is the way to go. It can be positioned where it is needed and can face the trailer when sitting outside to minimize disturbing neighbors. Mike

We had issues with two overhead doors opening while traveling on our first trip. I found that adjusting the position of the door on the hinge solved the problem. We use the one finger method for opening and closing to keep our mirrors clean(er). If someone finds a new latch let everyone know! We also had a problem with the drawer in the nightstand. One of the plastic catches inside the slide mechanism broke and I had to tape the drawer shut while traveling. Tommy sent me a new mechanism and the problem was solved. I remember that someone removed and painted the window frames to match the white fiberglass. I've thought about doing that also. Really don't like the off white color. Looks like an add on. Mike

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to seeing many of our Oliver friends in 2017! Mike

Bill, Nice lakeside site! 30s/60s is great weather for camping.... Mike

As Don says, the fridge is 3-way. We leave it on auto, when we hook up to shore power it automatically switches to shore power. When I disconnect from shore power it automatically goes to propane. I just leave it on propane when we're on the road. We have power where we store ours so the fridge never turns off.

Stan, Carol and I are both originally from Kansas so we understand that kind of cold! We're planning on going to Carlsbad Caverns NP and Guadalupe Mountains NP right after the new year. Then head to southern AZ for a week or so. We could make the short detour to Big Bend on our way back mid January. We visited Big Bend in September and had a great time. Mike

Pete, I like your thinking. I think we're also 3.5 season campers. It's good to know we have the ability to be out in really cold weather, but it just might not be much fun! So far, since we picked up last spring, we've enjoyed spring, summer and fall camping. We're going to jump into winter camping with both feet as soon as the holidays are over. Mike

David, the white grommet is the one that came from the factory. I removed it from the factory hole and used it in the hole I cut. It fits a 2" hole. I covered the old hole with a white plastic door knob protector. When you get ready to do this I'll be available to answer any more questions you might have. Mike

We keep our fresh tank fairly full when out camping and traveling, so unhooking the water hose at night isn't a problem. Plus, where we're going we're only talking a few hours that would be an issue. It warms up pretty quickly during the day to 40s and 50s... maybe even 60s in southern AZ during January. I don't plan on driving in sub-30 degree weather. I was just wondering what the possibilities were if we did get caught in one of those west Texas weather changes. If the weather forecast is severe, we'll just hunker down and wait for it to warm up! We don't really get cold enough weather here to winterize. It seldom gets much below 30 and we rarely see 20s. Having said that, the arctic air that just moved south through the US did hit us. It was 28 Saturday night and 24 last night! I opened the access covers at the dinette and beds and left a space heater going at 65 with a temperature sensor under the dinette in front of the black tank. When I checked this morning it was 65 inside, 45 at the black tank and 25 outside. Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions. We've camped when it was low 30s at night and didn't have any issues. A few more degrees lower.... no problem! Mike

We're planning a trip in January to southern NM (Carlsbad/Guadalupe Mt NP) and then to southern AZ (Sierra Vista/Tombstone/Bisbee). I anticipate temperatures in the mid to high 20's at night and then 40's/50's during the day. If I get a heated water hose or heated tape for my current hose, will that be enough? Do I still need to turn of the water and disconnect the hose at night? I don't plan on driving in freezing conditions, but if for some reason I end up on the road with temperatures below 32 (you never know in west Texas) are there any issues with running the furnace while towing? We already keep the fridge going on propane while on the move. I know there are some experienced cold weather campers out there and would appreciate your thoughts and advice. Mike

I think for FaceBook folks having a page to go to is a good thing and it's good to see someone take the initiative to get it going. I see it as a compliment to these forums. I'm not on FaceBook for a number of reasons and don't anticipate joining. But for those who are I hope it works out as hoped! Mike

Here's my version of the TV relocation. Not too difficult. I took my time and measured multiple times before drilling and cutting. Here's the mount I used. Also, an AppleTV mount, HDMI splitter, 3' HDMI cord, lightening to HDMI adaptor and a 1/8 sheet of aluminum. I used 1/4" bolts that were 1 1/2" long. The aluminum is 6"X8" (I left the plastic backing on). I relocated the hole insert. It takes a 2" hole saw to cut a new hole. Removing the two sides of the attic compartment entails unscrewing the two bolts at the bottom of each. It was somewhat of a rats nest of wires behind the side on the left. Once I got them sorted out I pulled the TV associated wires back to the middle. They use duct tape to secure them, so I had to pull some of that up. I also used duct tape to secure what I moved. Once the insulation is back down and the black mat in place there is only a slight hump in the back where the wires go through the new hole. I used 3M Command tape to mount the HDMI splitter to the side. The HDMI out of the top of the splitter goes to the TV. The two HDMI going in to the bottom are from the Furion and the AppleTV. The power cord is for the Apple TV. I have a lightening to HDMI adaptor cord that I will use when streaming video from my iPhone. Our AT&T/DirecTV account includes unlimited data when streaming video but the ability to send it to the TV via Airplay is blocked. Using the adapter to direct connect works. To do that I will have to unplug the AppleTV from the splitter. So many campgrounds have great wifi.... I wish. I also used 3M Command tape to mount the AppleTV. It's back near the new hole. When the TV is down you can't see it but the remote still controlled it fine. I used a neoprene wire wrap (Amazon). It was more flexible that the plastic the factory used. I zip tied it to a hole at the top of the mount so there's not much wire movement when moving the TV. The mount is adjustable up/down and right/left. You can also adjust the tension to remove any free play. I have it adjusted so I have to apply some force to move it. In the up position. I can see I need to adjust the left/right so that it is more level when stowed. To the left of the window I used while plastic door knob protectors to cover the old holes. Also, on over the old wire hole. They are less noticeable in person. AppleTV streaming from the house. I will share my only frustration. I left removing the old mount until the end. I thought I would just unscrew the two phillips head screws from the inserts in the wall. There were no inserts. They weren't screws. They were bolts that were connected on the back of the inner shell by some sort of lock nut. Whatever is on the back of the inner shell moved with the bolt so that no amount of unscrewing even with a lot of outward pressure did anything. You can see around the upper screw where I tried to get a small screwdriver in to hold the insert (that wasn't there). I ended up using my Dremel to cut the mount around the bolts so I could pull the mount off and then cut the heads off the bolts. I then pushed the remnants back into the holes so that they are flush with the wall and covered them. I think we'll look for something to hang that might cover the cover.... Mike